


Meet Cute

by propheticfire



Series: Tumblr Prompts Fulfilled [3]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Nonbinary Character, Other, Rex makes an awkward civilian, Speed Dating, and then words came out, just something silly, meet cute, this fic wasn't even supposed to happen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-16 22:05:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16503572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/propheticfire/pseuds/propheticfire
Summary: Rex sighed and rubbed his eyes. Letting Fives drag him along to speed dating was already the worst idea.





	Meet Cute

**Author's Note:**

  * For [raemanzu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/raemanzu/gifts).



> tumblr prompt from a fic writing ask meme: "Describe yourself how you would describe a character you’re introducing." This word vomit happened; hope you enjoy!

“Rex! Rex have you met Phire yet?”  
  
Rex sighed and rubbed his eyes. Letting Fives drag him along to speed dating was already the worst idea. The caffa shop was loud and frenetic enough, without having thrown in the shifting of chairs every five minutes. He’d already had caf slopped on him once in the shuffle, and was considering not going back after the break.  
  
He squinted at the notes he’d made on his piece of flimsi. “I don’t know; are they on the list?”  
  
“Hells, Rex, you took  _notes_? You’ve got a near-perfect memory; why’re you taking notes? Anyway, never mind; they’re not on the list. They’re a civvy I know. Echo and I met ‘em on one of the ops we did. She’s over in the corner there.”

Rex looked where Fives was pointing. Tucked into the far corner booth at the other end of the room was a human civilian, hunched over a steaming cup of caf, tapping occasionally at the keypad of their—her?—minicomputer. A colorful scarf wrapped around her neck, and as Rex watched she pulled off her bulky knitted hat to run her hands through her hair, shaved short all around save for a longer, faded green section at the crown. It flopped behind her glasses, and she brushed it away. It fell in front of her glasses instead. Even sitting, Rex could tell she was tall. And broad. And…very soft looking.

“So, Phire’s cool,” Fives continued. “Sweetest person we’ve ever met. They’re kind of a girl, kind of not, really depends on the day for them. Echo and I figured out it seems to work best if you just switch between ‘she’ and ‘they’ unless she tells you otherwise. Anyway I think you should talk to her. Go, go, I’ll speed date for both of us.”

“It doesn’t even work that way—” Rex protested, but Fives all but shoved him in the direction of the civvy.

For a moment, Rex felt very small and lost. Abandoned in the civilian world without a lifeline. Not even armor to hide behind. The next round of speed dating had already started; he couldn’t go back now. Only one thing to do: trust his ARC trooper.

He slowly made his way over to the corner. The civvy didn’t appear to have noticed him at first. When he reached the table, he cleared his throat. “Hi, uh, excuse me, hi.”

The civvy snapped her head up, just now realizing he was there. “Oh! Hello.”

“My buddy Fives—” Rex gestured stiffly back toward the speed dating tables, “—he said you were a friend of his; he wanted me to come say hi.”

“Oh, Fives!” The civvy’s face lit up. “Yeah, he said hi earlier. He’s a good guy. You’re his friend?”

“Technically I’m his Captain,” Rex blurted out.

The civvy’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh! Are you Rex, then?”

She already knew his name. Oh dear. But to be fair, he knew hers too.

“Yeah, I’m Rex.” He extended his hand, and the civvy took it. The handshake was strong, and warm. “You’re Phire, right?”

They nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I go by. Do you wanna sit down?”

“Sure. Thank you.”

Rex pulled out the chair opposite the booth seat and perched on its edge. There was a moment of awkward silence.

“Were you guys at the speed dating thing?” Phire finally asked.

“Yeah,” Rex answered. Maybe too quickly. “But I…didn’t really take to it very well.”

“Oh, goodness, me neither!” Phire chuckled an awkward sort of laugh, in solidarity. “I could never do something like that. Points to you for trying; you’re braver than I am.”

Rex found himself smiling a little half smile in response to her own. She had…very kind eyes. Grayish blue. “That’s one of the scariest things I’ve ever done.”

Phire’s smile widened. “I believe that.” She sounded sincere. “Do you like, want a caf or something?” She gestured to the counter behind Rex. “I used to work here; I can help you pick something out.”

“You worked here?” Rex found that he was impressed. To handle all this chaos, the noise, the constant echoing chatter, the neverending interactions with complete strangers… Clearly soldiers weren’t the only ones subjected to stress tests. And to do it always with such a radiant smile…

“Well not _here,_ here,” Phire was saying, “but this is a pretty popular chain, and I worked for the company for eleven years. I was a supervisor for a while.”

Eleven years was…almost as long as Rex had been alive. “Why did you leave?” he asked.

Phire shrugged. “Eh, it’s kind of a long story. And it kind of involves my life falling apart. But it was time to move on.” They paused. Rex thought that maybe he should say something, but he wasn’t sure what.

“I’m sorry,” he finally settled on.

Phire shrugged again. “Eh, it’s okay. Do you want a caf? I’ll totally help you pick one out.”

For reasons he couldn’t explain, Rex felt his face flush. “Yes, thank you. I’d like that.”

“Okay!”

Phire shimmied their way out of the booth seat and made their way toward the counter. Rex hung back just a moment, just a step behind. She _was_ tall—about his height. And broad. And still, very soft looking. He didn’t know if they were handsome, or pretty, or cute, or what the right word was, but there was something…inviting, about them. He felt as though he wanted her to put her arms around him, and just…hold him. Just hold him.

On the other side of the room, the speed dating tables shifted again. Fives caught his eye and gave him a thumbs up. His face flushed once more. Okay maybe this hadn’t been _such_ a bad idea after all.


End file.
